Were the implications of this simple statement to grip our hearts and permeate our actions, our churches, schools and ministries would act in harmony to evangelize the world.

This compelling dream drives our staff at Missions Resource Network. We believe it. We promote it. We need it.

Recently I asked Phil Jackson and Steve Smith, our facilitators for church planting in Europe and the South Pacific, respectively, to list the most strategic cities for new church plantings in their regions of the world. A few weeks of research on their part could likely have produced a somewhat accurate list of possible sites.

But we needed more than that. We needed collaboration. Shared aims. Partnership.

So these two men formed an international advisory panel for each region to advance a collaborative, strategic approach to plant new churches and strengthen existing congregations. Those panels consist of some 30 respected national church leaders, current missionaries, and former missionaries who still carry a burden for the fields where they served.

Mature church leaders in every land should have a voice in what kind of missionaries will be sent to their nations and where they will locate. Missionaries on the field have valuable insights to share. And former missionaries now located at our Christian schools can play an important role in recruiting new teams.

Working together we can accomplish more for the Lord.